Wind motor



Sept. 13, G. M V BERD.

'Fileday 25, 1931 ,vs sheets-sheep 1 .MEN I Sept. 13, 1932. G, M, BEAD. v zz WIND AMOTOR -Filed May 25. 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Sept. 13, 1932 i y l UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE- GEORGE u. Bunn, oF AUBURN, INDIANA WIND Moron Application led Hay 25, 1931. Serial No. 539,927.

My invention is an improvement in wind Fig. 6 is a sectional view ofthe box enclosmotors for operating pumps, machinery, etc., ing the gears at the lower end of the tower and relates more especially to that particular and including the manually operated lever type in which the wind wheel is put in and for regulating the turning of the blades of out of operation by having the blades turnthe wind wheel. 55 able on the hub so as to present more or less Figs. 7 tolO are detail views of the variable surface to the wind currents for turning the speed pulley, Fig. 9 being a sectional view wheel or stopping the same according to the on the line 9-9 of Fig. 8. strength of the wind, thespeed of the wheel In carrying out my invention I employ any 10 as we11 as the stopping of the same being conventional form of tower preferably of uo regulated by vanes .connected to the spindles the construction shown in the drawings in carrying the blades. which the corner posts l0 are of angle iron The primary object of my invention is to connected at intervals by bracing members provide a' wind motor of this general charl1, 11 supporting platforms 12 `and 13 at acter by which the vpower derived from the the upper and lower portions of the tower 65 wind wheel at the top of the tower is transand with additional bracing members 14 as mitted to a shaft at the bottom ofthe tower, desired for the stability of the structure. said ower driven shaft carrying a variableV In the present instance the upper end of the speedp pulley for opera-ting an electric 'gentower is provided with a rectangular cap 15 erator usable in lighting, cooking, etc., with fastened to the corner posts and having a 70 additional pulleys 0n the shaft for operating dome 16 supporting a base or table 17 on a pump, saw mill, and other domestic appawhich turns the housing 18 carrying the ratus. wind wheel and mechanism for transmitting A further object of my invention is to prothe power derived therefrom to an operating vide a simple and effective mechanism for regshaft 19 at the bottom of the tower, said hous- 75 ulating the turning'of the wind wheel either ing being supported on the table by a dependautomatically through the intervention of ing hollow standard 2() from which extends the governor vanes connected to the blades a hollow post 21 for a suitable distance below or manually at the lower end of the tower, the cap. As will be noted by reference to the means for manually throwing the wind Fig. 5 the housing is rotatable on the base so wheel blades out of operation also providing or table 17 so that lthe wind wheel carried for regulatin the operation of the governor thereby may be brought into position to face vanes or wind pressure required for turning the wind by means of the rudder 22 secured the same. to the housin at the opposite side'thereof With these principal objects in view my from the win wheel, and in order that the 85 invention consists inthe construction and housing may turn freely ball bearings 23 are arrangement of parts constituting m minterposed between the standard 20 and table proved wind motor, as hereinafter f y de- 17, while the opening 24 through the cap scribed and more specifically set forth in the in cooperation with the seating'ofthe table.

40. ap nded claims. on the dome permits ofthe required lateral l n the drawings; Y play. Y Figure 1 is an elevation of the wind motor. The hub 25 of the wind wheel hereinafter Fig. 2 is a front view of the wind wheel particularly described is connected to a holand upper part of the tower. A low horizontal shaft 26 extending through Fig. v3 is a plan view. one side of the housing and carrying a bev- 95 Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of the eled gearwheel 27 at the inner end thereof housing at the top of the tower to show the in mesh with a pinion 28 keyed to the upper mechanism enclosed therein. end of a tubular vertical shaft 29 extend' 50 Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of downwardlyl through the hollow post 21 zilli Fig. 4.

center of t e tower for transmitting the power of the wind wheel to a large beveled gearwheel 30 (Fig. 6) mounted in a gearing box 31 supported on the platform 13, the last mentioned gearwheel meshing with a pinion 32 at the inner end of the horizontal shaft 19 from which the power is taken for driving a pump, electric generator, etc. The wind wheel consists of blades 34 secured to the outer ends of spindles 35 passing through the hub and having collars 36 at the inner end thereof from which project crank arms 37 for turning the blades, said crank arms being operated by a grooved wheel 38 keyed to a rod 39 extending through the hollow shaft 26 and to which a sliding movement is imparted in the manner hereinafter described. 'Io relieve the hollow shaft from the weight of the wind wheel there is a sleeve 40 extending between the hub 25 and bearing 41 on the housing with bushings 42, 42 interposed between said sleeve and tubular shaft, these parts being protected by a cir` cular casing 43, and for bracing the blades of the wind wheel as well as to provide a bearing for the sliding rod 39 the hub of the wind wheel has a forward extension 33 on the outer end of which is fixed a cap 44 with an inwardly projecting circumferential lian e 45 for attachment thereto of the angle iron race rods 46 extending to the spindles of the blades. The forward extension of the hub also serves to enclose a spring 47 bearing at its inner end against a collar 48 at the outer end of the sliding rod 39 and at its outer end against a flanged plug 48a adjusted by a set screw 49 fir regulating the tension of said spring, the latter serving to actuate the sliding rod in one direction or to move the grooved wheel 38 in the direction to turn the blades normally into the Wind. The blades are turned to 'present less surface to the wind for decreasing the speed of the wind wheel, and with their edges to the wind for stopping the wind wheel, by means of vanes 51, 52 at opposite sides of the rudder 22, said vanes being connected to vertical shafts 53, 54 extending through the housing v and carrying pinions 55, 56 in mesh with a circumferential toothed sleeve 57 mounted on the inner end of the sliding rod 39 against a collar 58 keyed to said rod by pin 59, it being noted by reference to- Fig. 5 that the rod is supported at its inner end in a bearing 60 formed on the rear wall of the housing.

As hereinbefore explained the sliding -rod 39 is operated against the action of the spring 47 to turn the blades out of the wind .to a more or less extent by means of the governor vanes 51, 52 through the intervention of the vertical shafts 53, 54 and pinions 55, 56 shifting the circumferentially toothed sleeve 57 which actuates said sliding rod to move the grooved wheel with which the crank arms on the inner end of the spindles of the blades the rudder 22 at one side thereof and connected by a rod 61 to one of the governor vanes, as 52, whereby wind pressure against said wing will cooperate with the governor vanes, as hereinafter described, as well as cooperate lwith the rudder to bring the wind wheel in proper position with respect to the currents of air strikin the blades.

For manually operating the blades of the wind wheel from the bottom of the tower without interfering with the automatic operation by means of the governor vanes arod 63 is extended upward through the tubular shaft 29 and connected at its upper end by an interposed yoke 64 to a lever 65 pivoted in a bracket 66 bolted in the top of the housing and having a toothed segment 67 in mesh with a pinion 68 also supported by the bracket and engaging the circumferentially toothed sliding sleeve 57 at 'the upper side' thereof. As will be noted the yoke 64 is said operating rod 63, and the gearing between the lever and sleeve 57 is such that when the rod is pulled downwardly the sleeve is pushed forwardly against the action of the spring 47 to turn the blades in the same manner as do the governor vanes when the wind pressure is strong enough to operate said vanes. The rod 63 which is connected by pivoted yoke 64 to the lever 65 extends below the tubular shaft 29 beyond the bottom of the casing 31 enclosing the gears 30, 32 and is connected at its lower end to a hand lever 70 for operating the same, said lever being pivoted at one end to a link 71 depending from an ear 72 on the bottom of the casing and is provided with a loop 73 through which passes a segment rack 74 engaged by a sliding pawl 7 5 at the inner end of a rod 76 slidable in lugs 77 on the lever and connected to a bent lever 78 pivoted to the hand lever atone side of the gripping portion thereof, whereby the position of the blades of the wind wheel with respect to the surfaces presented for the action of the wind currents may be manually regulated by the operation of the hand lever. In order that this operai tion -Will not interfere with the operation of the blades by means of the governor vanes the upper endof said rod or extension beyond the yoke portion thereof extends through an opening in the outer end of lever and is provided with a head 79, thus permittin free downward movement of the outer en of said lever 65 when the sliding sleeve 57 is shifted by the governor vanes; that is to say, in the normal raised position of the hand lever and under normal conditions of the wind thesliding ofthe sleeve 57 forwardly by means of the governor vanes will not be affected by the locking of the operating rod 63 in its raised position. In cooperation with this arrangement for manually operating the blades of the wind wheel I interpose a tension spring 69 between the outer end of the lever 65 and shoulder formedby the upp er portion of the yoke 64, and it'will be obvlous by reference to Fig. 4 thatthe lifting of the rod beyond the normal position shown in said figure will compress the springaccording to the extent to which said rod is lifted thereby requiringmore Wind pressure against the governor vanes in operating the' same inasmuch as the lever 65. now under tension of the spring is geared to the sliding sleeve actuated by said vanes, thus serving to regulate the automatic operation of the blades of the wind wheel.

It will be understood that the power of the wind motor which is transmitted to the horizontal shaft 19 supported in a metal frame and bearings 81 on platform 13 at the bottom of the tower may be utilized for operating a pump and other machines or apparatus, for which purpose said shaft is provided with a band pulley or pulleys 82, but

`as my improved wind motor 1s designed for the special purpose'of operating a generator for supplyin electric current lfor domestic use said sha carries a variable pulley 83 illustrated in Figs. 7 to 10 of the drawings.

The variable pulley consists ofa main wheel, with an outer continuous rim 83a over which passes the belt (not shown) fortransmitting the power to the electric generator, and an inner wheel with a two-part rim 84, 85 the opposite ends of which latter are connected byv a crosspiece 86 having a hub 87, while the rim of the main wheel is connected by spokes 88 to ahub 89 at one side of the hub 86, the main wheel being loose on the shaft 19'while the inner wheel is connected thereto by key 90 and said wheels retained in relative position b means of the bearing 81 and collar 91 secure to the shaft by,cotterpin 92. The two-part rim ofthe inner wheel,fxed to the shaft by the hub of the crosspiece, is expanded for frictional engagement with the inner side of the rim of the outer wheel by the centrifugal action of oppositely disposed weighted members 93 and 94-pivoted at the opposite ends of the cropiece 8.6 and each carrying a rod 95, said r s bearings a ainst the rims of the inner wheel adjoining t e pivotal. connection of the weighted members to the crosspiece and are un er tension of a spring 96 win an adjusting nut 97 threaded on the rod.

In the o ration of an electric generator it is desirab e that it be driven at or above a certain s d and in the present instance this is provi ed for by the variable pulley inasmuch as the shaft 19'must be runnin at such speed as to move the weighted mem rs outwardly by centrifugal force suilicient to cause the'spring controlled rods to` expand the twopart rim of the inner wheel into frictional engagement with the rim of the outer wheel s c1 ent to turn said outer wheel for the operation of the electric generator.

In the operation of my improved wind motor with the parts of the mechanism arranged as illustrated in the drawings the currents of air striking, against the deflected blades of the wind wheel will turn saidKwind wheel and through the connection of hollow shaft 26, gearwheel 27, and inion 28, the tubular shaft 29 will be revolv land drive the shaft 19 at vthe bottom of the tower for the operation of a generator and other machinery or apparatus, and in case of a storm when the force of the wind attains such velocity that the too rapid turning of the wind wheel would be likely to injure the mechanism pressure of the against the governor vanes will move them inward and turn the shafts 53, 54 thereby'moving the sleeve 57 and slide the rod 39 and grooved wheel 38 connected thereto for changing the angle of the blades with respect to the Wind or bring said blades in line with the wind to stop the turning of the wind wheel. In this manner the operation of the wind wheel is controlled by the governor vanes and the amount of wind pressure required to move these vanes will be determined by the tension of the spring 69 set by the hand lever at the bottom of the tower, as hereinbefore explained,to regulate the speed of the wind wheel, stopping of the latter taking effeet when the vanes are at the limit of their inward movement. At any time it should be desired to throw the wind wheel out of operation it is only necessary to operate the hand lever to pull on the connecting rod 63 connected to lever 65 geared to the sleeve 57 and move the latter to slide the rod 39 and grooved wheel 38 s o as to shift the blades in line with vthe wind. It will thus be seen that I provide speed the the -variable band Y by the provision of wing 62 ivoted to near the outer end of the rudder an deflected from one side thereof by its connection to one of the governor vanes this wing not only serves to retain the wind wheel in proper position with respect to the direction of the wind in operating said wind wheel but its connection to the governor vane allows the tension spring 69 to also act on said wing; that is to say there is a cooperation between this wing and the governor vane for the purpose not only of keeping the wind wheel into the wind but to also assist in turning the blades according to the strength of the wind.

I claim:

l. n a wind motor the combination with a tower, a housing rotatably mountedl on the tower, and a rudder secured to the housing, of a hollow shaft journaled in the housing and having a wind wheel at its outer end with rotatable blades and means for turning the same, a tubular vertical shaft eared to the hollow shaft and extending tot e bottom of the tower, a rod slidable in the hollow shaft for operating the rotatable blades, governor vanes mounted on'the housing, and means responsive to the movement of the governor vanes for sliding the rod; together with a lever pivoted in the housing for sliding the aforesaid rod independently of the governor vanes, a vertical rod extending through the tubular shaft, a yoke connecting the upper end of the rod to the lever and through which yoke the aforesaid slidable rod passes,

a spring interposed between the lever andV yoke for exerting tension on the lever and sliding rod operated thereby, and means for adjusting the vertical rod with respect to the lever and compression ring.

2. In a wind motor t e combination with.

' shaft and extending to the. bottom of the tower, a rod slidable in the hollow shaft for operating the rotatable blades, governor vanes mounted on the housing, and means responsive to the movement of the governor vanes for sliding the rod; together with a lever pivoted in the housing for sliding the aforesaid rod independently of the governor vanes, a rod extending through the tubular shaft, a yoke connecting the up r end of the rod to the lever and through w 'ch yoke the aforesaid slidable rod passes, a spring interosed between the lever and yoke for exerting tension on the` lever and sliding rod operated thereby, a hand lever connected to the lower end ofthe last mentioned rod, and a rack and pawl for holding the leverl in adjusted position. l

3. In a motor the combination with a tower, a housing rotatably-mounted on the tower and carrying a' wind wheel laving rotatable blades, a rod and means responsive to the' movement thereof for turning the blades of the wind' wheel, and governor vanes connectedI to the rod for operating the Y same by Wind pressure, of means for exerting a spring tension on the aforesaid rod consisting of a lever pivoted inthe housing and connected to the rod, an operating rod slidbl connected to the outer end of the lever and, having a shoulder spaced from said lever, said last mentioned rod extending downwardly through the tower to the ground, a spring interposed between the lever and shoulder on the rod, a hand lever connected to the lower end of the rod extending through the tower, and a pawl and ratchet device for holding the hand lever and rod in an adj ed position for regulating the spring tension on the lever connected to the rod operated by the governor vanes.

4. In a wind motor the combination with a tower, a housing rotatably mounted thereon, a rudder secured to and projecting from the housing, a wind wheel mounted on the tower at the opposite side thereof from the rudder, said wind wheel having rotatable blades, a slidable rod and means vresponsive to the movement thereof for turning the blades of the wind wheel, and governor vanes connected to the rod for operating the same by wind pressure, of means for exerting a spring tension on the aforesaid rod and governor' vanes consisting of a lever pivoted in the housing and connected to the rod, a ver- Y with a wing pivoted to near the outer end of A A the rudder, and a rod `connecting said wing to one of the governorvanes for normall deilecting the wing outwardly from the ru der.

GEORGE M. BEARD. 

